A Macho Man to admire

One man who I admire is Baji Rao I. Readers in the west may not have heard about him, but he is a great figure in Indian history after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707 Baji Rao was born in 1700 and died young in 1740. But as we say a short life where you love and win battles is better than a long life doing nothing, my book rates Baji Rao as a great man.

Baji Rao was the Peshwa, the prime minister of the Mahrattha empire. He became Peshwa at the young age of 20 and for the next 20 years he fought over 40 battles and won each of them. He decimated the Muslim Moghul empire and extended the Mahrattha empire beyond Delhi.

However it is not the battles that he fought that impress me but his love for a Muslim girl name Mastani. It must be stated that Baji Rao was married in, 1719, to a girl named Kashibai, from a Brahmin family. Despite this Baji rao loved this Muslim girl and defied the learned men of the court.

Who was Mastani ? She was a beautiful girl, who loved to ride out to hunt or battle with the men. Her mother was a Persian concubine of King Chatrasal, so Mastani was raised as a Muslim. She was a staunch Muslim, but when BajiRrao saw her on a hunt he was smitten by her fairness, beauty and warrior like qualities.

He proposed to King Chattrasai , who readily agreed and the die was caste.Bajirao's decision to formally marry her as his second wife shocked other Brahmins, and caused a rift with his devoted first wife, Kashibai, and with his mother. But Bajirao evidently was head-over-heels in love with Mastani, and would brook no opposition to his second marriage. He married her and took her for a long hunt and after a vigorous hunt consumated the marriage under a large tree in the jungle. After possessing Mastani , he became even more invincible and in battle after battle set India aflame. with his victories. What a man: to admire and dream of coming in ones life.

Baji Rao died in 1740, after a short illness when he was out inspecting troops, but he has left behind an enduring image of a great warrior and lover. Such men make Indian history so colorful